"Girls are like shogi pieces? What the hell?"
He doesn't bother to avert his gaze from the sky. For once, his attention is not on the clouds. It is actually on the falling sprinkle of pearl – the first snow of the year.
"Nara."
A row of fingers flexes, elongates, stretches. A band of green fingernails claws across his cheek, painting a shriek of crimson against his face.
"No red," Shikamaru comments, brushing the droplets off.
"Excuse me?" Yamanaka mutters.
"Your nails – they're all green."
She blinks, then realizes what he is saying. Traditionally, she has worn red every year at Christmas. Supposedly it is a significant instance when she wears it, because unlike with Sakura, it is reserved only for the most special of times.
"I'm blonde," she says finally. "Red and blonde are like Gryffindor."
"…Isn't green a Slytherin color?"
"Hai. Silver, too." Ino gestures to the little silver bells on her emerald-knit cap.
"…"
"Slytherins are hawt," she explains.
"…Shallow much."
"What? You're comparing girls to shogi pieces, and I'm shallow?" she demands.
"Not that again. Just forget it, okay?"
"Gingerbread cookies?" Chouji offers as he comes outside, shutting the door behind him. In his hands is a plate stacked high with cookies.
"You can bake?" Ino asks, pleasantly surprised.
"Of course. All Akimichis can bake," Chouji replies, biting the head off an unfortunate teddy bear. "Well, except Chouko."
Ino considers scolding him for poking fun at his sister, as she usually would have, and perhaps even telling Chouko, but decides to spare him. After all, the cookies are good.
"Why are they teddy bears?" Shikamaru frowns, not being a fan of stuffed animals.
"Don't worry, Chouji. They're cute."
"…It was the only cookie cutter shape in the house. Chouko was trying to use the others…" A tear flits from his eye. "And they all died."
Dramatic.
"Well, thanks for the cookies, but I have to go. I have to set up for the party later tonight… And I haven't even got a present for Sasuke-kun yet."
Chouji blinks. "…Um, Ino?"
"I know what you're thinking. Sasu-kun won't be at the party, right?"
"Considering his status as a sadistic bastard and no longer an ally, the possibility seems rather low," Nara replies.
The air suddenly seems ten times colder, and not just because of the weather.
Ino shivers and toys with her jade scarf. "Merry Christmas," she smiles, and the words come out too loud, surprising even herself. They somewhat resemble the popping of a balloon.
The invisible little girl picks up the remains of her balloon and is still. She doesn't scream. Doesn't cry. Doesn't even acknowledge that her treasure has been destroyed. Yet her presence is felt, thick and suffocating. Waiting. "Merry Christmas," Ino says again, as if she is replying to herself. Then she is gone.
-x-
She has just finished hanging up the rest of last of the Christmas lights when the power goes out. Cursing, she fumbles about under the hold of dark in search of a flashlight or some other source from which the vast black expanse would flee. All she succeeds in doing, however, is stubbing her toe, which results in the birth of another expletive.
The Christmas party was to be perfect – perfect. She determined that it would make up for her anger with Shikamaru – and yes, she would admit it – with Chouji. Why Chouji? He didn't say anything to arouse her temper; the jokes about Chouko were trivial. And yet, that seemed even worse. The fact that he had the nerve to sit there and do nothing while Shikamaru defined her precious Sasuke-kun as a bastard.
Bastard ~you,~ Nara, she thinks, swallowing the urge to cry. To tell the truth, it is nothing Shikamaru hasn't voiced before. She doesn't know why she is being so sensitive about it now. Can she really lump it on the holiday? It has never made her so touchy before, so why now?
She knows it cannot be simply because of the power outage; since when could electricity control one's emotions? Perhaps it can destructively impact the life of one who lives solely off computers, but no shinobi is stupid enough to thrust so much dependence on mere power lines.
…Fine, there may be an exception. The stupid shinobi. Konoha's shame and sorry, thriving within the body of a blonde-haired— No, not Naruto! Although she can see why some would think of him, it is she who has been fixed with this curse of curses.
Flick!
The lights come back on, glorious in their shimmering melody of red and green and ivory white. They remind her of what she was like as a young child, always fascinated by something or another so much that she was blind to any cause for pain. Like a moth feeling its magnetic pull towards light, unable to comprehend that the joy will be short-lived.
She blinks, and the magic is gone, just as it has come. The lights are just lights, nothing more. Her head aches, and it is chilly enough to get through to her bones. The tree standing proudly in the corner with all the airs of royalty is a nothing but a fake, a lowly peasant fashioned by man.
She has never had a real tree, for such a thing would leave bits and pieces of itself on the floor, and make so much more trouble to clean up. As her father has said, a fake one is much more convenient. It can be reused, year after year, supposedly breeding a friendship.
There are other things familiarity can breed however. Boredom. Discontentment. Weariness of the same thing, over and over again.
Perfect, she remembers suddenly. Today is to be perfect. And it will be.
She dons a smile – a perfect smile, and promises herself perfection. If she cannot achieve that, all is lost.
A knock sounds at the door, and Chouji marches in with Shikamaru and Sai.
"Your house looks quite lovely," Sai says with a plastic smile, probably reading off a note he has written on his hand.
Ino knows this means he thinks the place is an ugly wreck, but decides to dismiss it. After all, Sai is Sai, and she can't expect him to change just so she can maintain her peace of mind. She should probably be grateful he hasn't complimented ~her~.
"I have enough cookies to feed an army," Chouji announces, setting down a tin almost as large as his stomach. "I hope no one ate too much lunch."
"I'm sure they'll get eaten," Ino reassures. "Shikamaru-san, do you have all the presents?"
"Yes," he mutters, clearly not enjoying the weight the bag is forcing on his back. With seemingly great effort, he plops onto the couch, slinging down his load. "What's the point of Secret Santa when everyone already knows everyone else?"
"To make new friends--" Ino pauses mid-recitation, shrugging. "I didn't see you coming up with any better ideas."
"Troublesome," Nara sighs, as is customary.
"…Sai, what are you doing?" Ino asks as she notices his unnaturally bright smile.
"Practicing," he replies, not moving from his spot underneath the mistletoe.
"Don't do that when the guests get here, okay? You're going to creep them out."
Sai frowns, consulting his book. "Pleasing people is not as easy as it is said to be."
"Yeah, yeah, we've heard," Shikamaru says, suppressing a yawn. "Why don't you go draw something?"
Chouji, having emptied a bag of chips, decides it is time to do something. "We still have an hour before the party starts. Let's go skating."
"Have fun. I'm not letting anyone steal my spot," Sai says.
"Good for you. Just try not to scare everyone away," Ino orders, grabbing a pair of skates. "You coming, Shikamaru?"
"…" Wordlessly, he rises to his feet. After all, he doesn't want to be alone in the house with Sai, does he?
Author Notes: This was originally started for a Naruto Christmas fanfics contest at Storywrite dot com, but I lost the notebook I was writing it in and didn't find it again until the contest ended. T.T Anyways, this is dedicated to Morning Star (the owner of the contest) and to Yamanaka Ino. Oh, and before I forget, Chouko is not one of the real characters from Naruto. She's not mine either. She belongs to Gem (her screen name on this site is Aburame Megumi). I felt like mentioning Chouko, although she wasn't featured prominently.
Disclaimers: All characters (besides Chouko) are from Naruto (Shippuden) and belong to Kishimoto-sensei. And Chouko belongs to Gem.